Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Maryland | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide MD | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Boundaries of the Utica and Marcellus Shale (Maps)
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

A brief post on the RealClearEnergy website presents what at first glance seems glaringly obvious to us: Most of the Marcellus Shale is underlain by the Utica Shale. But on second thought, perhaps it’s not so obvious to many people.

MDN has remind ourselves that new readers are accessing this site all the time–sometimes learning about the Marcellus and Utica Shale for the first time. So in the spirit of “refresher course” for some, and “here’s how it works” for others, below is that brief post, along with an excellent map. We’ve also included, for the first time ever, a series of maps from Vol. 2 of the 2012 Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook that show the boundaries for both the Marcellus and Utica Shale on state maps (PA, OH, WV, NY, MD) with counties identified on the maps (this is really cool stuff folks!)…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Herkimer County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Manheim Latest NY Town to Pass Illegal Fracking Moratorium
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

Yet another New York town has foolishly voted to extend a moratorium on drilling. Why foolish? A judge threw out a similar moratorium in Binghamton, NY last year (see NY Judge Throws Out Binghamton Fracking Moratorium). Depending on the language used and general circumstances, moratoriums in New York are illegal. Outright bans, for now, are still legal–although a pair of cases is (hopefully) headed to the state’s highest court which may overturn the right of towns to ban fracking (i.e. stop them from stripping away the rights of property owners).

The latest NY town to pass a moratorium and announce to the world it’s closed for business is Manheim (Herkimer County), NY. Note to Manheim taxpayers: Get ready to open your wallets to defend an expensive lawsuit…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Heinz Endowments President Owns $1.2M in Kinder Morgan Stock
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

The innocent-sounding Public Accountability Initiative (PAI), whose stated mission is “investigating power and corruption at the heights of business and government,” delights in “outing” connections between individuals and/or organizations and what they consider the dirty, nasty fossil fuel industry. Yet PAI refuses to admit that they themselves are funded (and corrupted) by George Soros, convicted insider trader and financier of a myriad of leftist causes (see Soros-backed PAI Makes University of Texas Look Foolish).

PAI is back with another sham report. But this one has a somewhat startling revelation: One of the primary individuals behind the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD), Heinz Endowments president Robert F. Vagt, has “undisclosed ties” to the natural gas industry…
Read More “Heinz Endowments President Owns $1.2M in Kinder Morgan Stock”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Berkeley County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Intelligence to be Sacrificed at WV Stop the Kaboom Festival
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

The crazies are at it again. Radical anti-fossil fuel activists, calling fracking “extreme resource extraction” that is “destroying the planet,” are organizing a hippie-fest in Hedgesville (Berkeley County), WV this Friday through Sunday to raise money to agitate against fossil fuels–the very same fossil fuels the people organizing and attending use every day of their lives. The so-called “Stop the Kaboom Music and Arts Festival” (bring your own pot) is now in its third year and hopes to be bigger and better than ever…
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Century Midstream | Energy Services

New Midstream Company – Coming to Marcellus/Utica?
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

Will a new Houston, TX-based midstream (pipelines & processing plants) company enter the Marcellus/Utica region soon? Maybe. Yesterday, Century Midstream LLC formally launched, formed by a seasoned team of midstream executives and backed by the deep pockets of investment firm First Reserve. Some of the executive team most recently worked on projects in the Marcellus/Utica, leading to our speculation that this new company may well be getting ready to enter the region…
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Anadarko | ConocoPhillips | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Talisman Energy

Will Investor Pressure Force Some Drillers to Split Company?
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

Are we about to see large oil and gas companies begin to split U.S. and foreign operations? An interesting theory is put forth in an article on the Investors Business Daily website that a plan by Occidental Petroleum to split its U.S. and foreign businesses may lead to other oil companies doing the same. Why? Investors want to drive up the per-share price of the companies, and by shedding more risky, less profitable international operations, they may be able to do it.

What caught MDN’s eye about the article is that the author uses Cabot Oil & Gas as an example of how a small domestic David-type company’s stock price can run rings around a much larger Goliath-type. MDN pointed this out in early March when we noted that Cabot’s market capitalization soared past Chesapeake Energy, a company at least 10 times the size of Cabot (see Guest Post: Corporate Hubris Humbles Chesapeake – Cabot Soars Sure & Steady). Also of interest is that the article names several large multi-nationals with drilling operations in the Marcellus/Utica (ConocoPhillips, Anadarko Petroleum and Talisman Energy) as being pressured to consider splitting their companies…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Pipelines | Supply Chain | V&M Star Steel | Vallourec

French Company Christens New Pipe Facility/350 Jobs in Youngstown
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

French pipe manufacturer Vallourec cut the ribbon yesterday on a new facility at their Youngstown, OH location. The former V&M Star facility (now renamed to Vallourec Star) manufacturers pipe for the oil and gas industry–in particular the rapidly expanding Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry. The pipe manufactured at the new plant will not only service the northeast but will be shipped around the world.

Vallourec invested $1.5 billion in the new plant where there are now 350 employees, many of them formerly out of work pipe workers from the Mahoning and Shenango Valley area. In addition to 350 employees at the pipe plant, Vallourec employs another 350 at their adjacent steel mill. Coming soon, another 100 jobs at a new threading plant in the same compound…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jun 13, 2013
June 13, 2013June 13, 2013

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jun 13, 2013”